timber

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timber

wood, especially when suitable for building purposes: Stack the timber next to the house.

Not to be confused with:

timbre – the characteristic quality of a sound: The timbre of his voice was unique.

tim·ber

(tĭm′bər)

a. Trees or wooded land considered as a source of wood.

b. Wood used as a building material; lumber.

a. A dressed piece of wood, especially a beam in a structure.

b. Nautical A rib in a ship's frame.

3. A person considered to have qualities suited for a particular activity: That trainee is executive timber.

tr.v. tim·bered, tim·ber·ing, tim·bers

To support or frame with timbers: timber a mine shaft.

interj.

Used by one cutting down a tree to warn those around that the tree is about to fall.

[Middle English, from Old English, building, trees for building; see dem- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

timber

(ˈtɪmbə)

1. (Forestry)

a. wood, esp when regarded as a construction material. Usual US and Canadian word: lumber

b. (as modifier): a timber cottage.

2. (Forestry)

a. trees collectively

b. chiefly US woodland

3. (Building) a piece of wood used in a structure

4. (Nautical Terms) nautical a frame in a wooden vessel

5. potential material, for a post, rank, etc: he is managerial timber.

(Building) (tr) to provide with timbers

interj

(Forestry) a lumberjack's shouted warning when a tree is about to fall

[Old English; related to Old High German zimbar wood, Old Norse timbr timber, Latin domus house]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

tim•ber

(ˈtɪm bər)

n.

1. the wood of growing trees suitable for construction purposes.

2. growing trees themselves.

3. wooded land.

4. wood, esp. when adapted for various building purposes.

5. a single piece of wood forming part of a structure: A timber fell from the roof.

6. (in a ship's frame) one of the curved pieces of wood that spring upward and outward from the keel; rib.

7. a person regarded as having exceptional qualifications: He's presidential timber.

v.t.

8. to furnish or support with timber.

v.i.

9. to fell timber, esp. as an occupation.

interj.

10. (used as a lumberjack's call to warn others that a cut tree is about to fall.)

[before 900; Middle English, Old English: orig., house, building material, c. Old Frisian timber, Old Saxon timbar, Old High German zimbar, Old Norse timbr; akin to Gothic timrjan, Greek démein to build]

tim′ber•y, adj.

Timber

furs or animal skins, especially 40 skins of martens, ermines, or sable, and 120 skins of other animals.

Examples: timber of ermine skins, 1714; of marten skins, 1707; of mink skins, 1707; of sable skins, 1566.

timber

Past participle: timbered
Gerund: timbering

Imperative
timber
timber

Present
I timber
you timber
he/she/it timbers
we timber
you timber
they timber

Preterite
I timbered
you timbered
he/she/it timbered
we timbered
you timbered
they timbered

Present Continuous
I am timbering
you are timbering
he/she/it is timbering
we are timbering
you are timbering
they are timbering

Present Perfect
I have timbered
you have timbered
he/she/it has timbered
we have timbered
you have timbered
they have timbered

Past Continuous
I was timbering
you were timbering
he/she/it was timbering
we were timbering
you were timbering
they were timbering

Past Perfect
I had timbered
you had timbered
he/she/it had timbered
we had timbered
you had timbered
they had timbered

Future
I will timber
you will timber
he/she/it will timber
we will timber
you will timber
they will timber

Future Perfect
I will have timbered
you will have timbered
he/she/it will have timbered
we will have timbered
you will have timbered
they will have timbered

Future Continuous
I will be timbering
you will be timbering
he/she/it will be timbering
we will be timbering
you will be timbering
they will be timbering

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been timbering
you have been timbering
he/she/it has been timbering
we have been timbering
you have been timbering
they have been timbering

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been timbering
you will have been timbering
he/she/it will have been timbering
we will have been timbering
you will have been timbering
they will have been timbering

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been timbering
you had been timbering
he/she/it had been timbering
we had been timbering
you had been timbering
they had been timbering

Conditional
I would timber
you would timber
he/she/it would timber
we would timber
you would timber
they would timber

Past Conditional
I would have timbered
you would have timbered
he/she/it would have timbered
we would have timbered
you would have timbered
they would have timbered

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	timber - the wood of trees cut and prepared for use as building material lumber stock - lumber used in the construction of something; "they will cut round stock to 1-inch diameter" strip - thin piece of wood or metal building material - material used for constructing buildings wood - the hard fibrous lignified substance under the bark of trees plank, board - a stout length of sawn timber; made in a wide variety of sizes and used for many purposes planking - planks collectively; a quantity of planks
	2.	timber - a beam made of wood beam - long thick piece of wood or metal or concrete, etc., used in construction coulisse - a timber member grooved to take a sliding panel sternpost - (nautical) the principal upright timber at the stern of a vessel stringer - a long horizontal timber to connect uprights two-by-four - a timber measuring (slightly under) 2 inches by 4 inches in cross section
	3.	timber - a post made of wood post - an upright consisting of a piece of timber or metal fixed firmly in an upright position; "he set a row of posts in the ground and strung barbwire between them"
	4.	timber - land that is covered with trees and shrubs timberland, woodland, forest biome - a major biotic community characterized by the dominant forms of plant life and the prevailing climate greenwood - woodlands in full leaf; "the greenwood was Robin Hood's home" dry land, ground, solid ground, terra firma, earth, land - the solid part of the earth's surface; "the plane turned away from the sea and moved back over land"; "the earth shook for several minutes"; "he dropped the logs on the ground" riparian forest - woodlands along the banks of stream or river silva, sylva - the forest trees growing in a country or region tree farm - a forest (or part of a forest) where trees are grown for commercial use
	5.	timber - (music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound); "the timbre of her soprano was rich and lovely"; "the muffled tones of the broken bell summoned them to meet" timbre, tone, quality sound property - an attribute of sound harmonic - any of a series of musical tones whose frequencies are integral multiples of the frequency of a fundamental resonance - the quality imparted to voiced speech sounds by the action of the resonating chambers of the throat and mouth and nasal cavities coloration, colouration, color, colour - the timbre of a musical sound; "the recording fails to capture the true color of the original music" nasality - a quality of the voice that is produced by nasal resonators plangency, reverberance, sonority, sonorousness, vibrancy, ringing, resonance - having the character of a loud deep sound; the quality of being resonant stridence, stridency, shrillness - having the timbre of a loud high-pitched sound register - (music) the timbre that is characteristic of a certain range and manner of production of the human voice or of different pipe organ stops or of different musical instruments music - an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner

timber

noun

1. beams, boards, planks a bird nestling in the timbers of the roof

2. wood, logs These forests have been exploited for timber since Saxon times.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

timber

noun

1. A large, oblong piece of wood or other material, used especially for construction:

balk, beam, rafter.

2. The basic substance or essential elements of character that qualify a person for a specified role:

material, stuff.

Translations

خَشَبخَشَب للبِناءشَجَر لِخَشَب البِناءضِلْع أو عارِضَه في هَيْكَل السَّفينَه

dřevokládakmenstavební dřívítrám

tømmertræbjælke

Bauholz Einschlag Holz Holzbalken

ξυλεία

árboles maderables maderamadera aserradamadera de construcción viga

puutavarahirsipuu

bois bois de charpente bois de construction poutre

drvo

épületfa

timburtré, skógurviðurbjálki, biti

legname legname da costruzione legno trave alberi da legname

材木梁木材

목재

medienastatybinis miškas

baļķisbūvkokskokmateriālikoks

timmerhout hout

tømmer trær trevirke takbjelke

tarcica

madeira

балка лес на корню пиломатериалы строевой лес

stavebné drevo

stavbni les

virketimmerträ

ไม้ที่ใช้ในการก่อสร้าง

kerestekerestelikkerestelik ağaçormantahta kiriş

gỗ xây dựng

木材栋梁可作木材的树木

timber

[ˈtɪmbəʳ]

A. N (= wood) → madera f; (= growing trees) → árboles mpl (productores de madera); (= beam) → viga f, madero m (Naut) → cuaderna f
timber! → ¡tronco va!

B. CPD timber merchant N (Brit) → maderero m
timber wolf N → lobo m gris norteamericano
timber yard N (Brit) → almacén m de madera

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

timber

[ˈtɪmbə^r] n

(= material) → bois m
building timber → bois m de construction

(= trees) → arbres mpltimber-framed timbered [ˈtɪmbə^rd] adj → à colombagestimber merchant n (British) → négociant m en boistimber yard n (British) → parc m à bois

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

timber

→ Holz nt; (for building) → (Bau)holz nt; (= land planted with trees) → (Nutz)wald m; to put land under timber → Land mit Bäumen bepflanzen; standing timber → Nutzwald m; timber! → Baum fällt!

(= beam) → Balken m; (esp Naut) → Spant nt

(Hunt) → (Holz)zäune und -gatter pl

(US: = character) a man of that timber → ein Mann dieses Kalibers; a woman of presidential timber → eine Frau, die das Zeug zum Präsidenten hat

vt house → mit Fachwerk versehen; gallery (in mine) → abstützen, verzimmern

timber

timber-framed

adj → Fachwerk-; timber house → Fachwerkhaus nt

timber framing

n → Fachwerk nt

timber

timberland

n (US) → Waldland nt

timber line

n → Baumgrenze f

timberman

n → Holzfäller m

timber mill

n → Sägemühle f, → Sägewerk nt

timber tree

n → Nutzholzbaum m

timber wolf

n → Timberwolf m

timberwork

n (= beams) → Gebälk nt, → Balkenwerk nt; (= timber framing) → Fachwerk nt

timberyard

n (Brit) → Holzlager nt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

timber

[ˈtɪmbəʳ]

1. n (material) → legname m; (trees) → alberi mpl da legname
timber! → cade!

2. adj (roof, cabin) → di legno

timber

(ˈtimbə) noun

1. wood, especially for building. This house is built of timber.

2. trees suitable for this. a hundred acres of good timber.

3. a wooden beam used in the building of a house, ship etc.

timber

→ خَشَب dřevo tømmer Bauholz ξυλεία madera puutavara bois drvo legname 材木 목재 timmerhout tømmer tarcica madeira строевой лес virke ไม้ที่ใช้ในการก่อสร้าง kereste gỗ xây dựng 木材

References in classic literature ?

He was crouching on the edge of the timber jam and glowering his hatred at us.

View in context

You know it's not 'timber,'" said Stepan Arkadyevitch, hoping by this distinction to convince Levin completely of the unfairness of his doubts.

View in context

It hangs from the ship's side at the end of a heavy, projecting timber called the cat-head, in the bight of a short, thick chain whose end link is suddenly released by a blow from a top-maul or the pull of a lever when the order is given.

View in context

It flowed in a gentle concave from the road up the mountain, its farther boundary an unbroken line of timber. The field glowed like rough gold in the approaching sunset, and near the middle of it stood a solitary great redwood, with blasted top suggesting a nesting eyrie for eagles.

View in context

And while he discussed within his own mind what sort of shape or similitude it were well to bestow upon this excellent piece of timber, there came into Drowne's workshop a certain Captain Hunnewell, owner and commander of the good brig called the Cynosure, which had just returned from her first voyage to Fayal.

View in context

They came on with a growling kind of noise, and mounted the piece of timber, which, as I said, was our breastwork, as if they were only rushing upon their prey; and this fury of theirs, it seems, was principally occasioned by their seeing our horses behind us.

View in context

He further increased his revenues by selling timber to the railway companies, for he would cut the great deodar trees in his own forest arid they fell thundering into the Sutlej River and were swept down to the Plains, 300 miles away, and became railway ties.

View in context

It had the big timber of a regular island; it might be five or six miles long and more than half a mile wide.

View in context

By way of ornament to the dull brown walls, icicles appear in the crevices of the timber, gleaming at intervals in the red fire-light.

View in context

The idea as to how I might learn to write was suggested to me by being in Durgin and Bailey's ship-yard, and frequently seeing the ship carpenters, after hewing, and getting a piece of timber ready for use, write on the timber the name of that part of the ship for which it was intended.

View in context

The difficulty now was to find timber of sufficient size for the construction of canoes, the trees in these high mountain regions being chiefly a scrubbed growth of pines and cedars, aspens, haws, and service-berries, and a small kind of cotton-tree, with a leaf resembling that of the willow.

View in context

Such dispositions, are the very errors of human nature; and yet they are the fittest timber, to make great politics of; like to knee timber, that is good for ships, that are ordained to be tossed; but not for building houses, that shall stand firm.